Arlington Road

The brief

The house had the classic 1930s problem: a small kitchen at the back, a separate dining room, a loft full of water tanks and a garden that dropped away from the house. The owners wanted one big kitchen-dining-living room on the garden, a bedroom and bathroom in the roof, and a home that felt finished rather than patched.

Design approach

Rather than simply adding a box, the design keeps the original bay on the rear elevation and wraps the new single-storey extension around it, so the new room reads as part of the house from the garden. A rear dormer gives the loft a full-height bedroom and shower room. Rendering the rear elevation ties old and new together, and a run of steps and a raised terrace deals with the change in garden level.

Construction

Steelwork opened the back of the house to the new extension; a large rooflight and full-width glazing bring light deep into the plan. The loft conversion involved a new floor structure, the dormer, a new staircase and the fire-safety upgrades Building Regulations require for a three-storey house. The refurbishment covered rewiring, new heating, bathrooms, decoration and joinery throughout, with the landscaping completed last.

Notable features

• Full-width single-storey rear extension with bi-fold and sliding doors
• Rear dormer loft conversion with bedroom and shower room
• Open-plan kitchen-dining room under a large rooflight
• Rendered and repainted rear elevation with new windows
• Raised stone terrace, steps and new lawn

The outcome

From the garden the house now reads as one composed elevation; inside, the kitchen, dining space and terrace work as a single room in summer. The loft added a bedroom and bathroom without touching the footprint, and the refurbishment means nothing in the house is waiting to be done next.